1. Field Of The Invention:
The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus and more particularly to such a cleaning apparatus which is particularly well suited to the cleaning of containers using flamable fluids, such as paint thinner, lacquer thinner, and the like, thereby rendering reusable containers, such as paint cans, used in large quantities in many industries.
2. Description Of The Prior Art:
The prior art is typified by the devices disclosed by such U.S. Pat. as: Nos.
1,173,255 Eberhart PA1 1,228,851 Valerius June 5, 1917 PA1 2,671,916 Zipperlin March 16, 1954 PA1 3,047,893 Anderson Aug. 7, 1962 PA1 3,264,675 Di Ilio Aug. 9, 1966
While it has been known to use certain types of machines to clean certain very specific types of containers, insofar as the applicant is aware there has heretofore been no machine capable of cleaning containers where the composition of the substances to be removed from the containers is such that a flammable cleaning fluid must be employed. Virtually all prior art devices have been designed to employ water as the cleaning solvent and thus are limited to such use unless excessive hazard is assumed. While water is effective on certain types of substances, such as disclosed in the prior art patents, it is entirely ineffective on substances such as paint and particularly paints of the oil or lacquer base types. In the past, the only method by which such containers could be cleaned has been by manual scrubing using a suitable cleaning solvent. In view of the highly flamable nature of such solvents used in removing substances of this type, the dangers inherent to their use, as well as the time consuming, tedious and uncleanly nature of the operation, such containers have normally been simply disposed of rather than cleaned.
In certain types of industries, such as the automotive repair industry, a considerable number of paint containers are employed on a daily basis. For example, in the automotive repair industry, large numbers of paint containers are employed to mix oil and lacquer base paints in relatively small quantities to match pre-existing painted surfaces in both color and finish. Heretofore, the containers employed in mixing even a very small quantity of paint were by necessity disposed of because of the lack of a practical method for cleaning the containers for reuse. The cost of such containers has continually risen to the point where cost of the purchase of new containers for this purpose constitutes a sizable percentage of the overall cost of the operation.
Therefore, it has long been known that it would be desirable to have a cleaning apparatus capable of cleaning containers which contain quantities of substances difficult or impossible to remove with water or similar non-flamable solvents.